{"id":53234,"date":"2025-05-26T12:57:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T12:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clevry.com\/?p=53234"},"modified":"2025-05-23T08:52:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T08:52:38","slug":"hire-q1-2025-the-traits-losing-ground-why-caring-change-and-confidence-are-fallinghire-q1-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clevry.com\/en\/blog\/hire-q1-2025-the-traits-losing-ground-why-caring-change-and-confidence-are-fallinghire-q1-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"HIRe Q1 2025: The traits losing ground: Why caring, change, and confidence are fallingHIRe Q1 2025:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not all hiring trends rise. Some fall quietly\u2014and others drop hard. This quarter, three traits saw a marked decline in assessment use: Caring<\/strong>, Change<\/strong>, and Self-Esteem<\/strong>. Each of these once held a clear position in talent strategy. Now, they\u2019re being deprioritised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a glitch. It\u2019s a signal. These shifts reveal how economic uncertainty and operational pressure are reshaping what organisations look for\u2014and what they\u2019re willing to deprioritise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can read our Hiring Intelligence Report Q1 2025 (HIRE) here<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caring: Altruism takes a back seat<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Caring<\/strong> scale, which once held 18th position, has dropped to 27th<\/strong>\u2014a clear slide down the priority ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t mean empathy is dead. But in economic climates where teams are stretched and margins are tight, emotional labour is no longer being assessed as a core motivator. The data suggests a shift away from values-driven hiring toward performance-driven alignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisations may still want to be \u201cpeople-first,\u201d but they\u2019re not hiring for it. At least not right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: When survival is the goal, altruism gets postponed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Change: From innovation driver to fatigue factor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once ranked in the top 5, Change<\/strong> now sits at 14th<\/strong>. That\u2019s one of the most significant drops in this data set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appetite for transformational energy has waned. After years of rapid shifts\u2014pandemic response, digital overhauls, hybrid working models\u2014many organisations are no longer seeking agents of change. They\u2019re looking for people who can stabilise, not stir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline in Change doesn’t reflect rejection of progress\u2014it reflects exhaustion. Leaders aren\u2019t asking \u201chow can we disrupt?\u201d as much as \u201chow can we make this work reliably?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: Change is still necessary\u2014but right now, consistency is more valuable.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Self-Esteem: Falling out of favour<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Self-Esteem<\/strong> dropped from 17th to 22nd. While not as dramatic as Caring or Change, this movement still tells a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal confidence used to be treated as a proxy for leadership potential. But the hiring focus has shifted. Traits like Poised<\/em> and Resilient<\/em> are outperforming Self-Esteem\u2014because it\u2019s not about what people believe about themselves, but how they show up under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quiet composure and external control now outweigh inner self-assurance. In practical terms: organisations want people who are functionally grounded<\/strong>, not just emotionally confident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What this decline tells us<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These drops aren\u2019t isolated. They align with a broader hiring pivot: away from values, traits of emotional idealism, and caring energy\u2014and toward durability<\/em>, clarity<\/em>, and output stability<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short: organisations are hiring for what\u2019s immediately useful, not what\u2019s aspirational.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What this means for hiring teams<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n